Shadow Seed Read Online Free PDF Page B

don't like them, do you?” Sara
asked.
    “I like kids,” Leon said. “It's just...I
don't know. I never had a desire for them, I guess.”
    “So you don't plan on having any?”
    “I'm not saying it won't happen. I'd be lying
if I said I never thought of what it'd be like.”
    Sara leaned in slightly. “Girlfriends?”
    “I've had a few, but...”
    “But what?” Sara asked straightening up.
    Leon opened his eyes, looking at Sara. “You
know silly things. Like my lineage. Never fails. It always gets in
the way, with the parents at least, a lot of old fashioned
statues.”
    “That's a problem with humans too,
sometimes,” Sara said. “I can only imagine what that means for a
Vesuvian.”
    Leon closed his eyes again. “Well, it's the
least of my problems.”
    Sara stretched her arms and legs before
standing. “Let's go to the promenade. We've got a few hours before
I have to report back to New Haven.”
    Leon was not nearly as physically tired as he
was mentally, all from dealing with the Vesuvian children. He got
up lazily, holding his hand out for Sara to lead the way.
    The short stroll through Leon's yard took
them to a street packed with people coming in and out of stores.
The only way Sara could tell what they sold was by an
advertisement, or a display in the window. Many of them sold
clothing or trinkets, but one that caught her eye was selling
goblets.
    “Let's check those out!” Sara said.
    Made from clay, wood, glass or metal, there
was a wide selection to choose from. Some were plainer than others,
but the nice ones were elaborately enameled and jeweled.
    Sara picked one up made of wood. It had a red
tinge and was carved to look like a person holding a large bowl
across his back.
    The shopkeeper moved around the counter,
closer to his valuable customers. “Our soldiers are a great part of
the good life we live today.”
    “I like the symbolism,” Sara said, placing
the goblet down.
    “Check this out,” Leon said, handing over a
gaudy one that was all black, shiny and decorated with onyx
stones.
    Sara was amazed with the craftsmanship. “Now
this looks expensive!”
    “Not really,” the shopkeeper said. “That one
in your hand there is just a regular chalice. The one you were just
holding was enchanted by a Remian elder. A sip from that goblet and
you'll have the speed and strength of ten men.”
    “Doesn't have to be blood either,” Leon
added. “It can be anything from alcohol to water.”
    Sara looked around, imagining what many of
goblets were capable of. “I didn't know you could do that.”
    Leon picked another goblet up. “Only a
handful of these do anything. It takes a very powerful Vesuvian a
lot of time. That's why they're pretty expensive.”
    “Guess I better start saving my money.” Sara
said.
    The shopkeeper laughed.
    “Maybe I’ll start a collection,” Leon said.
“Let’s go see what else is going on.”
    Leaving the shop, Leon and Sara went two
blocks down the street where a small crowd of people watched a man
painting on a large canvas.
    The landscape painting was at nighttime with
two cliffs opposite each other, overlooking a valley filled with
trees.
    Sara was hit with a sense of déjà vu. “Why do
I get the impression that's a perfect image of a real place?”
    “It's just outside Vesuvia,” Leon said.
    The painter examined his work for a moment
before drawing a vague depiction of a man standing at the edge of
one cliff, and of a woman at the other. With that, he turned and
bowed to polite applause from the crowd.
    Suddenly, every Vesuvian stopped talking and
froze in place.
    Sara was bemused. “What is it? What's
wrong?”
    Leon answered in a trance. “Pelasgians. The
northeast. There's a portal.”
    “Here, now?” Sara asked.
    As quickly as it happened, Leon snapped back
to reality with the rest. “Sorry about that. I have to go.”
    Sara followed Leon. “That's some trick you
got there.”
    “It was the Kanara,” Leon said. He stopped a
Remian